Book contents
- Intimations of Mortality
- Intimations of Mortality
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Conundrum
- 2 The US Health Care ‘System’
- 3 Autonomy and Informed Consent in the Real World
- 4 The Denial of Death and Its Sequelae
- 5 Disorders of Consciousness and the Meaning of Life
- 6 More Barriers to Good Communication
- 7 Palliative and Hospice Care
- 8 Rational Apathy and the Role of Uncertainty
- 9 The Crucible
- 10 Resolving Conflicts at the End of Life
- 11 At the End of the Day
- 12 Coda
- Index
1 - The Conundrum
How Much Medical Care Is ‘Enough’?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2022
Book contents
- Intimations of Mortality
- Intimations of Mortality
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Conundrum
- 2 The US Health Care ‘System’
- 3 Autonomy and Informed Consent in the Real World
- 4 The Denial of Death and Its Sequelae
- 5 Disorders of Consciousness and the Meaning of Life
- 6 More Barriers to Good Communication
- 7 Palliative and Hospice Care
- 8 Rational Apathy and the Role of Uncertainty
- 9 The Crucible
- 10 Resolving Conflicts at the End of Life
- 11 At the End of the Day
- 12 Coda
- Index
Summary
Most people want to live long and they want to live well. Quantity of life is experienced through the lens of quality – surviving is not enough without thriving. And the whole idea of quality only exists within the broader reality of the scarcity and uncertainty that is inherent in life. We can acknowledge this truth without allowing it to paralyze us. We can live with the knowledge that life is finite and that its end – in both timing and circumstances – is uncertain. Still, living in constant fear of illness and death can wreck an otherwise good span of years.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Intimations of MortalityMedical Decision-Making at the End of Life, pp. 1 - 16Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022